ITC2024体験記～My Experience with ITC - Falling in Love with our Product～

International Trade Challenge 2024に参加し、日本代表として国際大会に出場された高校2年生のM.O.さんに体験記を投稿していただきました。

International Trade Challenge（ITCとは）
提示されるチャレンジトピック（ターゲット国・テーマ）に沿って新しい商品を考案し、ターゲット国で販売するための市場参入戦略を競う、ビジネスアイデアのコンテストです。 海外への市場参入戦略を立案するため、ワークショップ（一部）、書類選考、国内大会、国際大会は全て英語で行います。書類選考を経て国内大会で日本代表に選ばれると、アジアパシフィック地域で開催される国際大会に出場することができます。国際大会では他国の参加者とペアを組み、新たに提示されるチャレンジ トピックに沿ったビジネスプランの立案・プレゼンを行います。
詳細：https://ja-japan.org/contests/ITC.html

I have always been interested in medicine and neuroscience, and a lot of what I’ve been doing over the past years have been strongly tied to research.
So, my decision to invite one of my friends who also loves neuroscience to compete in the International Trade Challenge (ITC) was a surprise to me also.
I figured, that perhaps being able to learn more about business and entrepreneurship will help me in the future, if I end up wanting to make a product out of something I discovered through my research.

To be honest, at first, I didn’t really find making a business plan enjoyable.
I think this was because we didn’t really resonate with any of our ideas. However, on one completely random day, a week before the submission deadline, a brilliant idea came to us – a digitalized sensor!! We immediately agreed on the idea and started building our plan.

If I were to have a love meter for our product, I think right at the stage where we initially came up with the idea, it would be at around 20%. We loved the idea, but we were unsure of where it would lead us.

With less than a week left, I remember pulling a couple all-nighters to write up our plan. Despite the countless amount of coffee I drank to keep working and the headaches I got during the day, for some reason I still remember the process to be very fun. Every time I came across a concept or idea that could be applicable to our product, it just made our product seem to come to life. My love meter was rising, probably up to 60% at this point.

After we got announced that we would be moving to the Japan final, me and my friend called every night to practice. And I think every time we finished rehearing our 7 minute presentation, we both grew more confidence, love, and trust for our product – that it would, in fact, be able to be successful. Because we were practicing so much, we both ended up hurting our throats on the presentation day, but I think our passion for our product was evident. Our love meter? Definitely 100%. I think this was why we were able to grab our spot at the top and go to the Asia Pacific Finals.

At the Asia Pacific Finals, I was paired with an amazing partner. She was from the Philippines, and our energies just matched perfectly. (This is where our team’s name, Synergetixs, comes from) What was different about the Asia Pacific Finals was that we had to build a business plan in 36 hours! Compare that with the Japan finals, which me and my friend had more than a week to finish….

We had really great team dynamics, and we were working smoothly. However, when we started to present to our mentor, I felt something was off. I didn’t feel the confidence I felt at the Japan finals. My partner started talking first, and her energy and confidence was just amazing. Compared to her, I felt just like a shadow, and I could tell that the difference in the confidence really stood out to the mentor. My chaperone also pointed it out to me, and I remember that night wondering why this may be. I finally came to the conclusion – I did not have as much confidence because I did not 100% believe in our product. And I think this was because I was intimidated by the other impressive finalists, that I struggled to focus on my product and loving it.

Once I figured that out, I did the same thing I did for the Japan finals – research, research, and research. What are the possibilities that our product has? What can it achieve? What potential does it have? The more time I invested fully immersed in getting to know our product, from a vague idea to determining a very specific prototype, the more confidence I felt.
We rehearsed countless amount of times, and after each one, I felt myself being able to escape the shadow that hid me. Right before final presentations, my love meter was definitely 120%.

And I think the passion, confidence and energy we brought was a major part in us being able to advance to the top 6 and going to the grand finals!

When I stepped onto the stage for the grand finale, in front of the eyes of successful entrepreneurs and 58 amazing finalists, for some reason I wasn’t nervous. I was really excited to present. Although we couldn’t place in the top 3, I am most certain that we were to most confident, energetic, and passionate about our product. I have no regrets.

This competition helped me realize the job of planning a business model, and the importance of loving what you do and present about. And I think the latter goes for almost anything you do. From just having a small thought of wanting to learn business skills to being able to present at the Grand Finals, this competition has helped me foster a lot of skills and knowledge of how to become a successful entrepreneur. Even if you are slightly curious about the competition, I would say, go for it. The obstacles you face and the skills you can foster is something that I think would last me a lifetime.

 記載：高校2年　M.O.